Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
DEPARTMENT OF PENSION & PENSIONERS’ WELFARE  CONDUCTS BANKERS’ AWARENESS WORKSHOP FOR PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK
AN EXERCISE TOWARDS SPREADING AWARENESS ABOUT GOI INITIATIVES FOR ‘EASE OF LIVING’ OF PENSIONERS
A Bankers’ Awareness Program was organized by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare at Lucknow on 18th August, 2023 for officers from CPPCs and branches handling pension related work at Punjab National Bank.
A team of officers from DoPPW under leadership of Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary  and Shri Sanjiv Narain Mathur, Additional Secretory , took sessions on Pension Policy Reforms & Digitization of pension, with the objective of updating the field functionaries of Punjab National Bank with regard to pension related matters of Central Government pensioners Special sessions were organized on Income Tax matters related to pensioners as well as Digital means of submitting the Annual Life Certificates. Chief Controller , CPAO shared the reasons which are a cause for pensioner’s grievances and suggested actions which may be taken by the bank for redressal. Senior officials from Punjab National Bank, headed by Shri Sanjay Varshney, Chief General Manager, Operations, Head office along with field functionaries handling pension work from various offices of Punjab National Bank attended the Workshop.
Secretory  informed about the initiatives taken by department for enhancement of welfare of pensioners and emphasized that branches should be a point of personal contact for pensioners to ensure seamless and correct payment of pension. The need for prompt redressal of grievances was also reiterated. Awareness of field officials & Pensioners are of utmost importance to ensure the benefits of Government of India’s welfare measures including use of Face authentication technology for Digital Life Certificate which may be advertised extensively by Banks. Digital life certificate and face authentication technology would be a game changer for pensioners and banks in submission of life certificates. Secretory  felicitated pensioners from Punjab National Bank who were attending the program and interacted with them with regard to the initiatives taken by department.
Shri Sanjiv N Mathur, Additional Secretary, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare informed that this program was the sixth in a series of Awareness Programs for Banks. It is expected that through these programs, the objective of enhancing ‘Ease of Living’ of pensioners will be achieved to a great extent. Such interactive sessions help the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare to take policy initiatives, as feasible, to address issues faced by field officials and pensioners. These awareness programs serve as huge capacity building exercise for bank officials.
Shri Sanjay Varshney, Chief General Manager, HO, Punjab National Bank addressed the participants and enumerated the initiatives taken by the bank for welfare of pensioners. Shri Varshney reiterated the commitment of the bank towards ensuring seamless and timely delivery of pension and pensionary benefits
Detailed feedback was taken from bank officers on various policy issues to make proactive changes to ensure “Ease of Living” for pensioners. 50 officers attending the program from Punjab National Bank CPPCs and pension dealing branches were awarded Certificate of Participation during the valediction ceremony.